8 dead in Fort Kochi boat tragedy

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With the recovery of two more bodies today, the death toll in Fort Kochi’s boat tragedy rose to eight, police said.

The fate of two other missing people is still unknown in what could be the coastal city’s worst boat tragedy in recent years. Authorities said the chances of finding anyone still alive were “slim”. Intense search operation is still continuing to find out the two more missing passengers — a woman and a man.

Navy, Coast Guard and Marine police personnel, who restarted search operations this morning, have found body of a man floating in the backwaters in the Island area of the city in the afternoon. He has been identified as Vijayan who was missing after yesterday’s tragedy, police said. The body of an 18-year-old girl, Sujisha, was found in the Chellanam harbour this morning.

Navy, Coast Guard and Marine police personnel restarted search operations this morning for three more missing persons, including a woman. The exact number of passengers on board the boat at the time of the mishap was yet to be ascertained, police said.

Police, however, said preliminary investigation indicates that there were about 35 people in the boat, said to be over three-decades old, which capsized and sank after being allegedly hit by a speeding fishing craft in the harbour mouth off Fort Kochi yesterday.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who visited the injured in the hospital here last evening, had said the government will bear the treatment expense of the people admitted in various hospitals.